Biography

Mingi Jung is a South Korean artist whose expansive practice explores the visual, political, and emotional resonance of memory, disappearance, and coexistence. Working across textile, sculpture, performance and drawing, Jung transforms the act of stitching into a form of philosophical inquiry—each thread a gesture of care, resistance, or commemoration.

 

A third-generation descendant of a family steeped in textile, Jung adapts sewing machines, hand-stitching and quilting techniques to develop a language he calls Ifasmoglyph—images not etched into stone like petroglyphs, but sewn onto fabric. These thread-etched works, whether flat or volumetric, bear the marks of touch, repetition, and time. They record not only personal or historical memory, but also what he calls “the massless”—those individuals and stories that history forgets, erases, or leaves bodiless.

 

His work addresses trauma, collective mourning, and the symbolic burden of representation. Figures encountered in media, myth, protest, or daily life are rendered ghostly through his method—stitched outlines, abstracted forms, spectral textures. His installations often include found wood, dyed muslin, and discarded textiles, embracing imperfection and inviting impermanence.

Works
  • Mingi Jung, Harmony – I feel good, 2023
    Mingi Jung
    Harmony – I feel good, 2023
    Free-motion quilting machine sewing on unbleached muslin, sumi ink and acrylic paint
    70 x 50 cm
    27 1/2 x 19 3/4 in
  • Mingi Jung, Harmony – The face of the earth, 2021
    Mingi Jung
    Harmony – The face of the earth, 2021
    Free-motion quilting machine sewing on unbleached muslin, acrylic paint, Korean loess and matte varnish
    45 x 38 cm
    17 3/4 x 15 in
  • Mingi Jung, Breath, 2020
    Mingi Jung
    Breath, 2020
    Hand stitched drawing on unbleached muslin, nylon wool, Korean ochre and matte varnish
    36 x 20 x 32 cm
    14 1/8 x 7 7/8 x 12 5/8 in
  • Mingi Jung, Lump – A Dog, 2024
    Mingi Jung
    Lump – A Dog, 2024
    Hand-stitched drawing on linen with cotton filling, gesso and acrylic paint
    29 x 20 x 18 cm
    11 3/8 x 7 7/8 x 7 1/8 in
  • Mingi Jung, Boa Constrictor Swallowed a Chair, 2023
    Mingi Jung
    Boa Constrictor Swallowed a Chair, 2023
    machine and hand stitched drawing on unbleached cotton with cotton filling
    53 x 29 x 223 cm
    20 7/8 x 11 3/8 x 87 3/4 in
  • Mingi Jung, Soaring Hidden Dragon, 2023
    Mingi Jung
    Soaring Hidden Dragon, 2023
    Machine and hand stitched drawing on cotton-blend fabric with cotton filling, plywood panel and wheels
    35 x 31 x 61 cm
    13 3/4 x 12 1/4 x 24 in
  • Mingi Jung, Listening to gain heart, 2023
    Mingi Jung
    Listening to gain heart, 2023
    Machine and hand stitched drawing on linen with cotton filling, acrylic and sumi ink paint
    110 x 50 x 86 cm
    43 1/4 x 19 3/4 x 33 7/8 in
  • Mingi Jung, Mouse sitting on rice jar, 2023
    Mingi Jung
    Mouse sitting on rice jar, 2023
    Machine and hand stitched drawing on denim with cotton filling
    76 x 48 x 52 cm
    29 7/8 x 18 7/8 x 20 1/2 in
  • Mingi Jung, History of tidal flats, 2016
    Mingi Jung
    History of tidal flats, 2016
    Machine and hand stitched drawing on satin, linen with cotton filling
    152 x 304 x 27 cm
    59 7/8 x 119 3/4 x 10 5/8 in
Exhibitions